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University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


7 


<W    ^Lt&s^ 


into  Cife 


IntoKife 


TSooket  flC.  Wae$in$ton 


of  "Up  from  Jfawtrp" 


»  Croweff  ^  Co» 


Copyright,  1906,  by  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 
Published  September,  1906 


Composition  and  electrotype  plates  by 
D.  B.  Updike,  The  Merrymount  Press,  Boston 


The  chapters  in  this  little  book  were  originally 
part  of  a  series  of  Sunday  Evening  Talks  given 
by  the  Principal  to  the  students  of  theTuskegee 
Normal  and  Industrial  Institute.  They  have 
been  recast  from  the  second  to  the  third  per- 
son, and  many  local  allusions  have  been  cut 
out.  They  are  now  sent  out,  in  response  to  re- 
peated requests,  to  a  larger  audience  than  that 
to  which  they  were  first  spoken. 

BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON 


Tuskegee  Institute,  Alabama 

August  10,  1906 


31  CaBfe  of  Content* 


I.  Health  a  Requisite  for  Effective  Living  I 

II.  Some  of  the  Qualities  Essential  to  the  most  Suc- 
cessful School  Life  5 

III.  A  Word  to  Prospective  Teachers  about  putting 

the  Most  into  their  Work  9 

IV.  Industrial  Efficiency  an  Aid  to  the  Higher  Life  17 
V.  Making  Religion  a  Vital  Part  of  Living  23 

VI.  On  making  our  Race  Life  count  in  the  Life  of  the 

Nation  30 


tbefHost  into  I  J  tfe 

i 

a  ^Requisite  for  Effective  Chwtg 


HE  individual  who  puts  the  most 
into  life  is  the  one  who  gets  the 
most  out  of  life.  The  first  requisite 
for  making  life  effective  for  one's 
self  or  society  is  a  sound  body. 
There  have  been  many  people  who  in  spite  of 
weak  bodies  have  enriched  the  world  by  noble 
thought  and  work.  There  has  been  a  long  line 
of  physically  weak  men  who  have  helped  the 
world  onward  ;  but  the  rule  holds  that  the  best 
work  has  been  done  by  men  and  women  of 
vigorous  health. 

It  is  important  that  the  Negro  race  in  its  pre- 
sent condition  shall  learn  just  as  quickly  as 
possible  how  to  have  good,  strong,  healthy 
working  bodies,  for  so  much  is  dependent  upon 
them.  In  the  world  of  industry,  the  world  of  com- 
merce, all  mental  activity  and  spiritual  endea- 
vor,— no  matter  in  what  direction  one's  atten- 
tion or  energies  may  be  turned,  strong  bodies 


are  needed  to  meet  the  demand.  There  are  a 
tfje  ($06t  few  simple  rules  which  should  serve  as  guide- 
into  Cife  posts  to  those  who  would  make  the  most  of 
their  physical  being.  One  of  the  conditions  of 
a  good,  strong,  working  body  is  contact  with 
fresh  air.  In  the  early  days  of  this  school,  when 
we  were  housed  in  shacks  and  cabins,  what- 
ever else  we  lacked,  we  were,  by  virtue  of  ne- 
cessity, abundantly  supplied  with  air;  but  now 
that  we  are  getting  into  plastered  buildings, 
with  good  floors  and  windows  and  doors,  there 
is  danger  of  suffering  from  poorly  ventilated 
rooms  and  a  lack  of  health-giving  air. 
Those  who  live  in  the  large  cities  would  do 
well  to  become  disciples  of  Wordsworth,  and 
with  him  learn  to  know  the  inspiration  and 
strength  that  come  from  wood  and  forest,— the 
joy  of  intimate  acquaintance  with  birds  and 
flowers.  The  individual  who  has  the  privilege  of 
living  on  the  farm,  and  coming  in  contact  with 
the  earth  and  grass  and  trees  and  real  things, 
is  the  individual  who,  provided  he  has  an  eye 
to  see  and  an  ear  to  hear,  is  most  to  be  envied. 
Next  in  importance  to  an  abundance  of  fresh 
air  is  the  habit  of  regular,  systematic  exercise. 
People  often  think  that  this  kind  of  exercise 
costs  a  great  deal  of  money,  that  it  means  costly 
apparatus  and  artificial  fixtures.  Not  so.  It  re- 


quires  no  great  outlay  of  time  or  energy  for  the 
boy  on  the  farm  to  breathe  deeply  as  he  follows 
the  plough  or  scatters  the  seeds.  And  yet,  sim- 
pie  exercises  of  this  kind  are  essential  to  the 
life  of  a  race  whose  mortality  from  pulmonary 
diseases  is  alarming.  Every  boy  in  the  machine 
shop  knows  how  necessary  it  is  to  keep  his 
machinery  well  oiled  and  in  good  running  con- 
dition. Then,  too,  every  such  boy  knows  the 
importance  of  keeping  every  part  of  his  ma- 
chinery as  clean  as  possible.  Now,  your  body  is 
a  machine,  but  how  much  more  delicate  and 
intricate  than  any  made  by  man!  how  much 
more  necessary  to  keep  it  in  good  running  con- 
dition and  absolutely  clean  in  order  that  it 
may  do  its  best  work ! 

In  addition  to  pure  air  and  cleanliness,  I  want 
to  speak  of  the  wearing  of  comfortable  clothing 
as  another  essential  to  right  living.  I  am  glad 
to  see  that  the  world  is  fast  getting  away  from 
the  old  habits  that  used  to  enslave  people  in 
this  matter  of  dressing —the  habit  exercised 
by  many  of  wearing  small  shoes,  for  instance, 
until  their  feet  were  cramped  in  severe  pains 
merely  to  have  the  world  think  they  had  small 
feet.  What  does  it  matter  to  the  world  whether 
a  person  has  small  feet  or  large  feet?  Who  ever 
stops  to  think  whether  great  poets,  historians, 

3 


the  great  workers  in  economic  and  religious 
tfye  flt?06t  life,  —men  and  women  who  have  really  accom- 
tnto  Cifeplished  something, -had  large  or  small  feet, 
whether  they  wore  fours  or  eights,  or  wore 
large  or  small  corsets  or  none.  I  am  glad  to  see 
that  all  peoples  and  races  are  getting  away  from 
that  kind  of  thing,  and  I  want  the  Tuskegee 
students  to  make  up  their  minds  to  buy  shoes 
to  fit  no  matter  what  the  number.  We  consider 
the  Chinese  ridiculous  to  keep  their  feet  cruelly 
cramped  in  order  that  they  may  be  small,  but 
many  of  us  in  somewhat  less  degree  are  guilty 
of  the  same  thing. 

The  importance  of  temperance  has  been  re- 
peated over  and  over  again  from  this  platform ; 
and  intemperance  in  eating  or  sleeping  is  not 
less  disgusting  than  intemperance  in  drink. 
The  world's  work  is  to  be  done  by  men  and 
women  of  vigorous  intellect;  but  the  sound 
mind  must  have  its  foundation  in  a  body  which 
is  kept  clean  and  made  comfortable  by  proper 
clothing,  pure  air,  regular  exercise  and  whole- 
some food.  No  workman,  however  competent, 
can  do  good  work  unless  his  tools  are  kept  in 
proper  repair.  My  plea  is  that  the  young  Negro 
students  shall  acquire  strong  working  bodies  to 
be  used  as  tools  to  serve  therewith  their  fellows 
and  their  Maker.  This  is  the  end  of  all  living. 
4 


J>ome  of  ttfe  Qnatitiee  (Sesentiaf  to  itfe 

floof  Cife 


HE  student  who  would  put  the 
most  into  his  school  life  must 
first  of  all  be  happy.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  is  possible  for  a  student 
to  accomplish  very  much,  cer- 
tainly not  the  most,  while  he  is  in  school,  un- 
less he  learns  to  be  happy  in  all  his  relations  in 
school  life.  If  the  students  are  unhappy  there  is 
something  wrong  with  the  institution,  or  with 
the  teachers,  or  with  the  student  body.  The 
normal  state  of  a  student  in  a  well-ordered  in- 
stitution is  a  happy  one.  It  is  impossible  to  get 
the  most  out  of  the  life  of  any  institution  un- 
less there  is  joy  in  working  out  the  ideals  of 
the  institution.  The  student  should  make  him- 
self familiar  with  the  purposes  of  the  school  to 
which  he  seeks  admission,  and  having  made 
the  choice,  he  should  be  loyal  to  its  traditions 
and  purposes. 

The  Bible  teaches  over  and  over  again  that 
freedom,  without  which  happiness  is  impos- 

5 


sible,  is  self-imposed  restraint,  that  to  be  really 
ttye  $?06 1  free  we  must  live  within  the  law.  He  who  lives 
into  iCife  outside  the  law  is  a  slave.  The  freeman  is  the 
man  who  lives  within  the  law,  whether  that  law 
be  the  physical  or  the  divine.  All  life  is  governed 
by  law,  and  the  student  must  acquire  freedom 
by  obedience  to  law.  The  students  in  any  insti- 
tution are  divided  into  two  classes:  the  happy, 
contented,  ambitious,  hopeful  ones,  who  have 
faith  in  the  institution  and  respect  for  its  tra- 
ditions, and  the  miserable,  discontented,  grum- 
bling class.  Or  -i  class  live  not  only  within  the 
letter  but  in  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  are  con- 
sequently happy.  The  second  class  are  miser- 
able, discontented  and  hopeless  because  they 
try  to  live  outside  the  law.  No  student  can  get 
much  out  of  any  institution  who  does  not  enter 
whole-heartedly  into  its  spirit,  its  traditions 
and  its  ideals. 

The  ability  to  do  hard  methodical  work  is  one 
of  the  prizes  which  every  school  worthy  of  the 
name  offers  to  its  students.  The  years  at  school 
not  infrequently  give  bent  to  the  whole  life. 
The  student  who  does  slipshod  work  at  school 
is  more  than  likely  to  lack  direction  in  his  sub- 
sequent career.  But  mental  strength  comes  not 
as  a  bequest.  It  is  a  prize  that  must  be  con- 
tended for  right  earnestly,  and  dictionary,  cycle- 


paedia,  text-book  and  shop  are  tools  which  putting 
instructors  place  in  the  hands  of  students  to  tfe 
help  them  win  the  prize.  The  proper  use  of  into 
these  tools  must  depend  finally  upon  the  indi- 
vidual student.  No  one  gets  much  out  of  life 
who  does  not  make  his  education  a  real,  vital 
part  of  himself.  Many  people  have  education 
very  much  as  a  parrot  has  at  his  command 
a  certain  number  of  words  or  sentences.  The 
words  and  sentences  that  the  parrot  utters  are 
no  real  part  of  him.  They  are  merely  something 
tacked  on  to  the  parrot,  and  foreign  to  his  real 
natural  make-up.  Some  people  use  education 
as  they  use  their  "Sunday  clothes,"  on  extra 
occab'ons  only.  They  bring  their  education  into 
play  when  they  are  in  the  company  of  others, 
commit  a  few  quotations  and  use  big  words 
which  have  no  working  place  in  their  vocabu- 
lary. To  try  to  make  education  a  real  part  of 
one's  self  is  the  way  to  get  most  out  of  one's 
school  life.  Just  as  the  food  a  man  eats  becomes 
a  part  of  his  blood  and  bone,  so  should  educa- 
tion become  a  vital  part  of  him.  Education 
must  be  digested  and  assimilated  in  order  to 
make  it  significant. 

The  student  who  leaves  undone  immediate 
duties  because  of  bodily  laziness  is  leaving 
happiness  far  behind  him.  Sins  of  commission 

7 


and  sins  of  omission  alike  tend  to  weakness. 
tfje  $?06t  Our  ability  to  make  the  world  better  depends 
into  jTife  entirely  upon  our  ability  to  use  every  oppor- 
tunity to  make  ourselves  better.  A  largeness 
of  life,  a  variety  of  interests  and  breadth  of  view 
are  among  the  prizes  which  a  school  offers  to 
its  students.  These  qualities  the  ignorant  man 
does  not  possess.  Largeness  of  life  and  breadth 
of  vision  give  faith  in  the  future ;  that  largeness 
makes  one  person  take  the  long  view  when 
the  other  is  taking  the  short  view;  that  large- 
ness lifts  the  educated  person  far  above  the 
temptation  to  gossip  about  little  things,  above 
the  temptation  to  get  down  into  the  mud 
and  slime  with  which  weaker  individuals  are 
smeared. 

To  be  loyal  and  obedient  to  the  legislation  of 
an  institution,  to  make  thrifty  use  of  text-book 
and  shop  and  farm  and  every  part  of  the  school 
equipment,  is  to  attain  that  mental  strength 
that  makes  for  largeness  of  life  and  breadth  of 
view.  These  qualities^come  not  by  observation, 
but  they  do  come  by  conscientious  work  in  sea- 
son and  out  of  season.  They  are  all  within  the 
reach  of  the  student  who  is  willing  to  work  for 
them,  and  they  are  all  essential  to  real  happi- 
ness. 


m 

31  Wor&  to  fitoepective  (Ceacljere  a6out 
fintting  t$e  flftoet  into  tfjeit  Work 

HE  large  problem  of  the  teacher 
is  not  to  impart  knowledge  and 
maintain  discipline.  The  larger 
problem  is  to  bring  school  life  and 
real  life  into  closer  contact.  With 
the  average  teacher,  as  with  the  average  stu- 
dent, there  is  very  little  connection  between 
the  school  and  life  as  it  is  actually  lived  every 
day  outside  the  school-room;  and  as  long  as 
this  is  true  there  will  be  ground  for  reasonable 
and  just  criticism. 

In  the  primary  school,  the  intermediary  school 
and  the  high  school  there  is  often  little,  if 
any,  connection  between  life  as  it  is  lived  in  the 
shop,  on  the  farm,  in  business  and  in  the  home. 
It  cannot  but  prove  of  mutual  advantage  if  the 
teacher  can  bring  school  life  into  actual  touch 
with  the  life  of  the  people  about  him.  The  in- 
terest of  the  parents  will  be  increased  just  in 
proportion  as  they  find  that  the  teacher  is 
making  his  instruction  stimulate  and  vitalize 

9 


}Dttfttttg  conditions  outside  the  school-room. 
ttje  ($06t  It  is  difficult  for  the  parent  of  the  country 
into  jCife  child  to  note  the  results  of  education  through 
the  usual  processes  and  channels  of  know- 
ledge. Colored  parents  depend  upon  seeing  the 
results  of  education  in  ways  not  true  of  the 
white  parent  It  is  important  then  that  the  co- 
lored teacher  in  this  generation  should  give 
special  attention  to  bringing  school  life  into 
closer  touch  with  real  life.  Any  education  is  to 
my  mind  "high"  which  enables  the  individual 
to  do  the  very  best  work  for  the  people  by 
whom  he  is  surrounded.  Any  education  is  "  low  " 
that  does  not  make  for  character  and  effective 
service. 

The  average  teacher  in  the  public  schools  is 
very  likely  to  yield  to  the  temptation  of  thinking 
that  he  is  educating  an  individual  when  he  is 
teaching  him  to  reason  out  examples  in  Arith- 
metic, to  prove  propositions  in  Geometry  and 
to  recite  pages  of  History.  He  conceives  this  to 
be  the  end  of  education.  Herein  is  the  sad  de- 
ficiency in  many  teachers  who  are  not  able  to 
use  History,  Arithmetic,  Geometry  as  means 
to  an  end.  They  get  the  idea  that  the  student 
who  has  mastered  a  certain  number  of  pages 
in  a  text-book  is  educated,  forgetting  that  text- 
books are  at  best  but  tools,  and  in  many  cases 
zo 


ineffective  tools,  for  the  development  of  man. 
Modern  educators  are  getting  more  and  more 
away  from  books.  Now  this  will  be  hard  for  . 
the  average  teacher  who  has  worked  out  all 
the  problems  in  Arithmetic  and  proved  them  by 
the  answers  in  the  book,  but  I  believe  that 
the  best  educational  thought  tends  toward  the 
study  of  real  things  and  not  mere  books. 
One  of  the  ways  of  bringing  the  school  into 
closer  touch  with  society  is  to  make  school  sur- 
roundings, including  the  grounds  and  build- 
ings, as  homelike  and  as  attractive  as  possible. 
The  school-rooms  are  in  too  many  cases  cold 
and  barren.  In  schools  of  this  sort  there  is  little 
connection  between  the  home  and  the  school.  I 
believe  that  the  teacher  should  study  the  home 
surroundings  of  his  pupils  and  become  more 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  parents.  When 
teachers  are  able  to  make  their  school-rooms 
inviting  and  are  able  to  project  their  influence 
into  the  home  life  of  the  pupils,  there  will  be 
few  absentees  or  truants.  A  child  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  leave  a  comfortable,  attractive  and 
convenient  home  to  go  into  a  dull,  inconvenient, 
uncomfortable  school-room,  nor  can  it  be  ex- 
pected that  pupils  will  leave  comfortable  chairs 
at  home  and  go  into  school-rooms  where  they 
must  sit  on  stools  with  their  feet  six  or  eight 

ii 


inches  from  the  floor, 
tfie  flDoet  It:  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  teacher 
into  Cife  should  set  tne  example  for  the  student  in  the 
matter  of  cleanliness  and  neatness.  The  teacher 
who  would  preach  against  grease  spots,  rents 
in  clothes  and  buttonless  jackets  must  see  to 
it  that  he  is  himself  without  fault  in  these  re- 
spects. When  I  go  into  a  school  and  notice  that 
the  instructor  has  buttons  off  his  coat,  I  am  at 
once  convinced  that  he  is  not  the  right  teacher. 
I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  much  that  the 
student  can  learn  at  that  school  that  can  be 
put  into  practice  in  real  life.  I  believe  that  the 
teacher  should  not  only  set  an  example  him- 
self, but  that  he  should  go  further  than  this: 
he  should  see  that  every  boy  and  girl  in  his 
school  is  familiar  with  the  practical  applica- 
tions of  soap  and  water,  and  knows  the  work 
of  the  tooth-brush  and  the  darning-needle. 
Some  parents  may  at  first  resent  this  encroach- 
ment upon  their  special  domain,  but  persist- 
ence in  an  endeavor  of  this  sort  will  finally 
cause  the  parents  to  look  upon  the  teacher  as 
a  new  force  in  the  community.  The  average 
parent  cannot  appreciate  how  many  examples 
Johnny  has  worked  that  day,  how  many  ques- 
tions in  History  he  has  answered ;  but  when  he 
says, "  Mother,  I  cannot  go  back  to  that  school 

12 


until  all  the  buttons  are  sewed  on  my  coat," 
the  parent  will  at  once  become  conscious  of 
school  influence  in  the  home.  This  will  be  the 
best  kind  of  advertisement.  The  button  propa- 
ganda tends  to  make  the  teacher  a  power  in 
the  community.  A  few  lessons  in  applied  Che- 
mistry will  not  be  amiss.  Take  grease  spots,  for 
example.  The  teacher  who  with  tact  can  teach 
his  pupils  to  keep  even  threadbare  clothes 
neatly  brushed  and  free  from  grease  spots  is 
extending  the  school  influence  into  the  home 
and  is  adding  immeasurably  to  the  self-respect 
of  the  home. 

In  the  school-houses  in  the  city,  and  in  many 
of  the  larger  towns  and  country  districts,  jan- 
itors do  all  the  work  of  cleaning.  This  may 
be  necessary  in  city  schools,  where  it  is  not 
possible  for  the  children  to  do  all  the  work  of 
beautifying  and  cleaning  the  school  building, 
but  when  all  this  work  is  done  by  outsiders 
the  children  are  robbed  of  part  of  their  instruc- 
tion and  they  thus  lose  a  very  important  lesson 
in  cleanliness  and  order  which  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  teacher  to  give.  Think  of  the  time  lost  in 
the  average  family  looking  for  the  broom  when 
the  time  comes  to  sweep  the  floor.  At  this  time 
all  business  suspends.  Mother  cries  out  first, 
"Where  is  the  broom?"  The  older  sister  cries 

13 


to  J°hn  and  Susie  and  Jane,  "Where  is  the 
broom?"  and  that  kind  of  thing  goes  on  every 

into  Cife  ^av  *n  ^  wee^  an(*  year.  It  takes  the  average 
family  from  ten  to  twelve  minutes  every  day  to 
find  the  broom.  Now,  we  should  teach  a  differ- 
ent lesson  in  our  schools.  We  can  teach  in  the 
first  place  that  there  are  two  ways  for  the 
broom  to  be  put  up,  a  proper  and  an  improper 
way.  We  can  teach  the  children  that  there  is  a 
place  for  the  dust-pan  and  the  dust-cloth  and 
the  match-box.  The  match-box  is  another  thing 
that  suspends  business.  Every  night  when  the 
matches  are  wanted,  everything  goes  helter- 
skelter.  This  is  a  larger  problem  than  the 
broom,  there  being  absolutely  no  light  on  the 
subject.  The  children  should  be  taught  that 
there  must  be  a  definite  place  for  the  broom 
and  for  the  match-box,  and  it  is  surprising  how 
quickly  these  lessons  will  be  taken  from  the 
school-room  into  the  home.  Even  the  listless 
parents  will  be  roused  to  interest  by  such  prac- 
tical teaching.  The  child  who  goes  to  school  in 
a  room  that  is  clean  and  attractive  will  not  long 
be  content  to  live  in  a  home  that  is  dirty  and 
disorderly. 

I  was  recently  in  a  school-room  in  South  Caro- 
lina. The  teacher  had  a  reputation  for  being 
a  well-fitted  instructor,  and  I  expected  much 


of  him.  He  was  teaching  the  children 
latest  methods.  The  children  sang  well,  they  tlje 
recited  their  lessons  well,  but  the  fact  that  one  fafo  jCife 
third  of  the  plastering  was  missing  made  the 
greatest  impression  on  me.  I  could  not  detect 
the  slightest  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
or  students  to  see  that  the  plastering  was  re- 
stored. I  should  have  suspended  school  a  day 
or  two  until  the  plastering  could  be  replaced, 
rather  than  teach  day  after  day  by  silent  ap- 
proval a  lesson  of  disorder.  If  the  teacher  is 
careless,  the  pupils  will  accept  his  standards 
and  go  through  life  in  an  indifferent,  slipshod 
manner.  If  from  the  first  day  they  enter  school 
they  are  surrounded  with  object  lessons  of  or- 
der and  cleanliness,  more  will  have  been  done 
to  educate  them  in  a  large  and  helpful  way 
than  if  they  had  centred  their  interest  in  books 
alone. 

Order  and  beauty  are  sacrificed  in  many  of  our 
schools  because  one  third  or  one  fourth  of  the 
window-glass  is  out.  Sometimes  I  have  seen 
obsolete  hats  and  discarded  dresses  doing  duty 
in  the  absence  of  window-glass  or  window- 
panes  knocked  out  in  order  that  the  stovepipe 
might  be  run  through  the  broken  place.  The 
child  never  outlives  the  impression  made  by 
such  a  sight.  The  parents  will  join  their  chil- 


dren  in  helping  to  patch  broken  plastering  if 
ttye  &)06t  the  teacher  will  take  the  lead.  When  the  plas- 
into  Ctfe  tering  is  mended,  a  few  pictures  should  be 
placed  on  the  walls,  and  in  this  work  the  par- 
ents' cooperation  can  be  depended  upon.  Teach- 
ers must  put  not  less  conscience  but  more 
thought  into  the  work  for  the  children  to  whose 
lives  they  are  giving  direction.  By  putting  into 
their  work  more  of  their  better  selves,  more 
of  their  personality,  teachers  will  add  not  only 
to  their  own  happiness  and  usefulness,  but  will 
be  doing  real  work  toward  hastening  the  com- 
ing of  that  kingdom  for  which  they  daily  pray. 


16 


IV 

3fn&uetriaf  6fftciencp  an  JIi5  to 
fotje  fyitfet  Cife 


T  was  Emerson  who  said  that 
"One  generation  clears  the  for- 
ests, the  next  builds  the  palaces." 
Each  generation  is  very  anxious 
to  engage  in  the  building  of  the 
palaces,  an  ambition  which  is  altogether  laud- 
able, but  the  forests  must  first  be  cleared  or 
there  will  be  no  palaces.  And  so  it  falls  to  the 
lot  of  every  successful  individual  of  every  race 
and  nation  to  engage  at  some  time  or  period 
in  their  existence  in  dealing  in  a  large  degree 
with  the  industrial  or  material  affairs  of  life. 
The  forms  of  industry  that  occupy  the  major- 
ity of  people  in  a  civilized  country  may  be 
classed  under  one  of  the  following  heads:  first 
and  perhaps  most  largely,  the  production  of  raw 
material  in  one  form  or  another;  the  second 
step  is  the  manufacturing  of  these  materials; 
third,  the  problem  of  transportation  and  get- 
ting these  products  on  the  markets  of  the 
world,  and  having  them  properly  distributed 

17 


and  economically  and  wisely  consumed. 
&)06t  The  production  of  cotton  in  the  South  pre- 
into  jCtfe  sents  a  familiar  example  of  all  these  processes. 
The  growing  of  cotton  is  an  industry  largely 
in  the  hands  of  my  race ;  in  the  second  step, 
the  manufacturing  of  cotton,  the  colored  peo- 
ple have  as  yet  little  part;  in  putting  these 
materials  on  the  market  through  the  medium 
of  steamboats,  steam-cars,  and  their  distribu- 
tion through  wholesale  and  retail  establish- 
ments, colored  people  have  diminishing  inter- 
ests. The  lesson  for  all  young  people  to  learn 
in  this  busy  industrial  age  is  to  deal  with  ma- 
terials, whether  at  first  hand  in  getting  some- 
thing out  of  the  soil,  or  as  constructing  or  dis- 
tributing agents,  so  as  to  increase  the  value  of 
the  material  they  handle  and  to  make  them- 
selves more  useful  as  individuals. 
The  main  source  of  all  productiveness  is  in 
the  soil,  and  the  work  of  getting  out  of  the  soil 
all  that  can  be  gotten  out  of  it  has,  in  recent 
years,  made  agriculture  an  intellectual  pur- 
suit. It  is  very  important  to  note  the  progress 
of  the  world  during  the  last  few  years,  when 
people  have  learned  to  put  more  into  life  by 
putting  brains  and  skill  and  confidence  into 
all  industrial  operations.  A  few  years  ago  the 
man  who  was  going  to  be  a  farmer  made  al- 

18 


most  no  preparation  for  his  work.  Skill  and  in- 
telligence  were  not  considered  necessary,  but  ttje  flf?00t 
to-day  in  every  civilized  country  there  are  in-  into 
stitutions  that  have  for  their  sole  purpose  the 
teaching  of  methods  of  getting  everything  pos- 
sible out  of  the  soil.  A  few  years  ago  the  min- 
ing of  coal,  copper,  silver  and  gold  was  left  to 
the  most  unintelligent,  ignorant  and  unskilled 
people;  there  was  little  thought  or  skill  put 
into  preparation  for  this  kind  of  work.  To-day 
mining  schools  have  been  established  in  all  im- 
portant mining  districts,  and  this  industry  has 
been  so  dignified  that  intelligent  and  skilful 
men  delight  to  enter  it.  The  same  thing  is  true 
of  forestry.  Within  the  last  few  months  a  chair 
of  Forestry  has  been  established  at  Cornell 
University,  where  young  men  can  learn  all 
about  the  selection  and  cultivation  of  trees.  The 
Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  is 
spending  over  two  million  dollars  yearly  in 
showing  people  how  to  take  care  of  the  forests. 
The  world  is  making  all  the  material  products 
serve  not  as  masters  but  as  servants,  and  ser- 
vants in  the  sense  that  they  are  making  people 
put  more  thought,  more  effort,  more  skill  into 
life,  and  enabling  them  thus  to  get  more  abun- 
dant returns  wherewith  to  enlarge  and  ennoble 
their  lives.  There  are  opportunities  about  us  on 

19 


every  hand.  The  Southern  farm  offers  great  op- 
tfje  &)OGt  portunities  to  every  young  man  who  will  use  his 
into  jCife  talents.  The  idea  that  farming  means  plough- 
ing with  one  mule  or  digging  the  ground  with 
a  spade  is  fast  disappearing,  for  this  industry 
is  developing  into  a  high  and  dignified  calling. 
Young  women  of  maturer  races  than  ours  are 
making  large  economic  successes  in  the  rais- 
ing of  chickens,  in  fruit  growing,  in  raising 
small  berries ;  and  young  colored  women  should 
begin  to  get  some  of  the  benefits  of  these  in- 
dustries. 

But  the  chance  for  material  success  in  con- 
nection with  industrial  life  is  relatively  of  less 
importance  than  is  the  chance  for  the  individ- 
ual to  get  development  through  the  mastering 
of  difficulties  in  the  management  of  industrial 
operations.  The  mere  mastering  of  these  diffi- 
culties has  made  many  of  the  Captains  of  In- 
dustry of  this  country.  Poverty  discourages 
many  a  youth  who  starts  out  in  the  busy  in- 
dustrial world,  but  the  fact  that  others  have 
conquered  poverty  is  an  earnest  that  others, 
for  centuries  to  come,  will  get  courage  and 
strength  out  of  adverse  struggle.  The  colored 
man  starts  out,  it  is  true,  with  an  additional 
handicap,  but  here  is  the  chance  for  Negro 
youth  to  learn  to  turn  disadvantages  to  advan- 

20 


tages.  A  colored  man  born  in  poverty  and  an  ex- 
slave  owns  to-day  one  of  the  largest  tailoring  tfje 
establishments  in  one  of  the  most  prominent  into 
streets  in  the  city  of  Boston.  This  man  had 
learned  the  sweet  uses  of  adversity  and  knew 
how  to  lay  hold  of  disadvantages.  His  estab- 
lishment is  patronized  by  people  who  buy  from 
him  not  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Negro, 
but  because  he  is  a  Negro.  The  world  needs 
men,  be  they  white  or  black,  who  can  rise  on 
successive  failures  to  useful  citizenship.  No 
person  can  enter  industrial  life  without  for  a 
time  feeling  some  days  of  almost  complete  fail- 
ure, but  mistakes  and  weariness  beget  confi- 
dence and  experience. 

All  industrial  operations  and  material  pro- 
gress should  be  used  not  as  ends  but  as  means 
of  making  life  more  comfortable,  more  useful 
and  more  beautiful.  The  intelligent  farmer  as 
he  plants  and  works  and  harvests  the  cotton 
must  remember  that  the  production  of  cotton 
is  not  the  end  of  his  effort.  Every  bale  of  cotton 
can  be  turned  into  books,  into  opportunities  for 
travel  and  study.  The  man  who  grows  corn 
must  remember  that  the  growing  of  corn  is  not 
the  end  of  life,  but  that  the  corn  can  be  turned 
into  refinements  and  beauties  of  a  civilized  life 
and  a  Christian  home. 

21 


fttt£  No  one  can  doubt  that  the  people  who  have 
ttfe  ($06t  built  the  railroads  and  constructed  the  great 
into  iCife  steamships  that  bind  country  to  country  have 
added  to  the  wealth  and  happiness  of  the 
world.  Finally,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
mastering  of  difficulties  should  bring  poise, 
purpose  and  vision.  I  want  every  Tuskegee 
student  as  he  finds  his  place  in  the  surging 
industrial  life  about  him  to  give  heed  to  the 
things  which  are  "honest  and  just  and  pure 
and  of  good  report,"  for  these  things  make  for 
character,  which  is  the  only  thing  worth  fight- 
ing for,  either  in  this  life  or  the  next. 


22 


J&eftgion 
Jt  faitat  fiatt  of  giving 


DUCATED  men  and  women,  es- 
pecially those  who  are  in  college 
or  other  institutions  of  learning, 
very  often  get  the  idea  that  reli- 
gion is  fit  only  for  the  common 
people  and  beneath  the  interest  and  sympathy 
of  the  educated  man.  In  too  many  cases  they 
are  disposed  to  think  that  religion  is  for  the 
weak,  and  that  to  express  doubts  concerning 
religion  and  the  future  life  is  an  indication  of 
a  vigorous,  independent  mind.  No  young  man 
or  woman  can  make  a  greater  error  than  this. 
Some  years  ago,  when  I  was  in  New  York 
City,  I  went  down  to  Wall  Street  to  consult  a 
friend  as  to  methods  of  arranging  for  a  large 
meeting.  I  wanted  in  this  meeting  to  get  inter- 
est centred  in  the  work  we  are  trying  to  do  at 
Tuskegee.  My  friend  said:  " If  you  can  secure 
the  cooperation  of  four  men  in  New  York  City, 
the  success  of  your  meeting  will  be  assured." 
I  went  to  the  four  men  whose  names  had  been 

23 


&*ven  me  anc*  secured  their  interest  and  co- 
g  $)06t  °Perati°n-  Some  weeks  later  there  was  a  large 
meeting  held  in  New  York  in  the  interest  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  move- 
ment. In  looking  over  the  list  of  persons  who 
were  sponsors  for  this  meeting  I  found  the 
names  of  the  four  men  whom  my  Wall  Street 
friend  had  mentioned.  He  gave  me  these 
names,  however,  with  no  thought  that  they 
were  leaders  in  the  religious  activity  of  New 
York  City.  He  named  them  chiefly  because 
he  knew  their  standing  in  the  commercial  and 
business  life  of  the  city  was  secure,  and  that 
anything  they  said  would  attract  the  attention 
of  the  public  and  would  secure  the  confidence 
of  the  people  whose  interest  and  aid  we  were 
seeking.  And  so  it  appears  that  the  four  men 
who  at  that  time  represented  the  commercial 
and  business  interest  of  New  York  were  men 
who  were  closely  identified  with  the  religious 
life  of  the  city,  and  were  active  in  Sunday- 
school  and  church  work,  and  connected  with 
many  other  agencies  which  had  to  do  with  the 
uplifting  of  the  masses.  My  observation  has 
taught  me  that  the  people  who  stand  for  the 
most  in  the  educational  and  commercial  world 
and  in  the  uplifting  of  the  people  are  in  some 
real  way  connected  with  the  religious  life  of 
24 


the  people  among  whom  they  reside. 

This  being  true  we  ought  to  make  the  most 
of  our  religious  life  and  to  avail  ourselves  of 
certain  outward  helps,  helps  which  are  not 
ends  but  aids  to  higher  spiritual  living.  First 
the  habit  of  regular  attendance  at  some  reli- 
gious service  should  be  cultivated.  This  is  one 
of  the  outward  helps  toward  inward  grace.  No- 
thing is  ever  lost  by  this  habit  of  systematic 
devotion.  But  one  says,  "What  good  is  accom- 
plished by  attending  church?"  Another  says, 
"I  stay  away  from  religious  service  and  I  am 
just  as  good  as  those  who  go."  To  put  the 
question  another  way,  Was  any  one  ever  in- 
jured by  regular  attendance  upon  religious  ser- 
vices? The  man  who  allows  himself  to  grow 
careless  about  sacred  things  yields  to  a  temp- 
tation which  is  sure  to  drag  him  down.  As  you 
value  your  spiritual  life,  see  to  it  that  you  do 
not  lose  the  spirit  of  reverence  for  the  Most 
High  as  revealed  in  your  own  life  and  expe- 
rience, reverence  for  the  Most  High  as  re- 
vealed in  the  men  and  women  about  you,  in  the 
opening  flower,  the  setting  sun,  and  the  song 
of  the  bird.  Do  not  mistake  denominational- 
ism  for  reverence  and  religion.  Religion  is  life, 
denominationalism  is  an  aid  to  life. 

Systematic  reading  and  prayerful  study  of 

25 


the  Bible  is  the  second  outward  help  which  I 
ttye  Gfyoet  would  commend  to  those  whom  I  wish  to  see 
into  jCtfe  ma^e  the  most  of  their  spiritual  life.  Many  peo- 
ple regard  the  Bible  as  a  wonderful  piece  of 
literature  only.  The  reading  of  the  Bible  as  lit- 
erature only  brings  its  reward  in  that  it  throws 
new  light  on  secular  history  and  gives  acquain- 
tance with  men  and  women  and  ideals  which 
have  been  the  inspiration  of  the  noblest  things 
that  have  ever  been  spoken  or  written.  No- 
where in  all  literature  can  be  found  a  finer  bit 
of  oratory  than  St.  Paul's  defence  before  King 
Agrippa.  But  praiseworthy  as  this  kind  of 
study  is,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  sufficient.  The 
Bible  should  be  read  as  a  daily  guide  to  right 
living  and  as  a  daily  incentive  to  positive  Chris- 
tian service. 

I  think  that  no  man  who  lives  a  merely  nega- 
tive religious  life  can  ever  know  real  spiritual 
joy.  There  are  many  people  who  pride  them- 
selves on  the  things  they  do  not  do.  The  nega- 
tive Christian  always  suggests  a  lamp-post  to 
me.  The  negative  Christian  says  he  is  going  to 
heaven  because  he  does  not  lie.  Neither  does 
the  lamp-post.  The  negative  Christian  does  not 
steal.  Neither  does  the  lamp-post  steal.  Redoes 
not  cheat,  he  does  nothing  of  which  he  is 
ashamed:  he  is  therefore  blameless. The  lamp- 
26 


post  has  never  done  any  one  of  these  things.  I 

do  not  want  the  Tuskegee  students  to  be  lamp-  t§e  ($061 

posts  in  their  religious  life,  but  I  want  them  to  into  jDfi 

turn  their  beliefs  into  energy  that  shall  work 

into  every  detail  of  their  lives. 

Not  less  repulsive  to  me  than  the  negative 
Christian  is  the  one  who  is  always  using  his 
religion  as  a  means  of  escape  from  something, 
from  hell  fire  or  brimstone  or  some  less  remote 
punishment.  This  class  of  Christians  use  reli- 
gion as  people  use  the  conjurer's  bag  or  a  dis- 
infectant to  ward  off  evil.  They  are  not  drawn 
to  any  vital  thing  in  religion ;  they  simply  use 
it  as  a  cloak  to  shield  them  from  harm. 

To  live  the  real  religious  life  is  in  some  mea- 
sure to  share  the  character  of  God.  The  word 
"atonement,"  which  occurs  in  the  Bible  again 
and  again,  means  literally  at-one-ment.  To  be 
at  one  with  God  is  to  be  like  God.  Our  real  re- 
ligious striving,  then,  should  be  to  become  one 
with  God,  sharing  with  Him  in  our  poor  human 
way  His  qualities  and  attributes.  To  do  this, 
we  must  get  the  inner  life,  the  heart  right,  and 
we  shall  then  become  strong  where  we  have 
been  weak,  wise  where  we  have  been  foolish. 
We  are  often  criticised  as  a  race  because  peo- 
ple say  that  our  religion  is  not  real.  They  say 
that  our  religion  is  superficial,  that  in  spite  of 

27 


putting  our  attendance  at  religious  services  and  pro- 
t$e  fl$00t  testations  of  faith  we  are  guilty  of  petty  pilfer- 
ttlto  Ctfe  ing,  stealing,  lying  and  of  walking  crookedly 
in  many  directions.  Whenever  this  criticism  is 
true  it  means  that  we  have  not  learned  what 
the  religious  life  really  means.  We  must  learn 
to  incorporate  God's  laws  into  our  thoughts 
and  words  and  acts.  Frequent  reference  is  made 
in  the  Bible  to  the  freedom  that  comes  from 
being  a  Christian.  A  man  is  free  just  in  pro- 
portion as  he  learns  to  live  within  God's  laws, 
and  he  makes  grievous  mistakes  and  serious 
blunders  the  minute  he  departs  from  these 
laws. 

As  a  race  we  are  inclined,  I  fear,  to  make  too 
much  of  the  day  of  judgment.  We  have  the 
idea  that  in  some  far-off  period  there  is  going 
to  be  a  great  and  final  day  of  judgment,  when 
every  individual  will  be  called  up,  and  all  his 
bad  deeds  will  be  read  out  before  him  and  all 
his  good  deeds  made  known.  I  believe  that 
every  day  is  a  day  of  judgment,  that  we  reap 
our  rewards  daily,  and  that  whenever  we  sin 
we  are  punished  by  mental  and  physical  anxi- 
ety and  by  a  weakened  character  that  sepa- 
rates us  from  God.  Every  day  is,  I  take  it,  a 
day  of  judgment,  and  as  we  learn  God's  laws 
and  grow  into  His  likeness  we  shall  find  our 
28 


reward  in  this  world  in  a  life  of  usefulness  and 
honor.  To  do  this  is  to  have  found  the  king- 
dom of  God,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  charac-W^  1 
ter  and  righteousness  and  peace. 


Tl 

<0n  $?aktng  ©ut  &ace  Ctfe  (Count 
in  f  f?e  Ctfe  of  tfle  Nation 

N  the  Bible  one  finds  over  and 
over  again  the  words  "a  peculiar 
people."  Reference  is  made  to  the 
Jews  as  "a  peculiar  people," —  a 
people  differing  in  thought  and 
temperament  and  mode  of  life  from  others  by 
whom  they  were  surrounded.  Now  the  race  to 
which  Americans  of  African  lineage  belong  is 
often  described  as  "a  peculiar  people,"  having 
had,  as  we  know,  a  peculiar  history.  They  differ 
in  color  and  in  appearance,  and  in  a  very  large 
degree  their  temperament  and  thought  differ 
from  that  of  the  people  about  them.  Now  the 
Jews  because  they  were  different  from  the  peo- 
ples by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  because 
of  their  peculiar  religious  bent,  were  able  to 
give  to  the  world  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  and 
Fatherhood  of  God,  and  Christianity,  the  finest 
flower  of  Jewry.  It  is  then,  I  think,  not  too 
much  to  hope  that  the  very  qualities  which 
make  the  Negro  different  from  the  peoples  by 

3P 


whom  he  is  surrounded  will  enable  him,  in  the  £ 
fulness  of  time,  to  make  a  peculiar  contribution  ttfe  Oftoet 
to  the  nation  of  which  he  forms  a  part. 
What  that  contribution  is  to  be  no  man  can 
now  tell,  but  we  must  keep  in  mind  that  the 
race  is  made  of  individuals  and 

"every  man  God  made 
Is  different,  has  some  deed  to  do, 
Some  work  to  work.  Be  undismayed. 
Though  thine  be  humble,  do  it,  too." 

As  with  an  individual,  so  with  a  race.  When 
you  and  I  and  all  the  other  individuals  that  go 
to  make  up  our  race  shall  have  learned  to  do 
well  our  own  peculiar  work,  we  shall  be  able 
to  determine  the  bent  of  the  race.  It  must  fall 
upon  you  and  me,  who  have  had  opportunity 
to  work  out  in  some  measure  our  own  individ- 
ual problems,  to  give  direction  to  the  race.  It 
is  for  us,  therefore,  to  bring  to  the  enrichment 
of  our  lives,  as  individuals,  every  quality  which 
we  are  capable  of  cultivating. 
There  is  in  the  New  Testament  a  passage 
which  I  like  to  refer  to  and  to  think  of;  it  reads 
something  like  this : "  He  that  overcometh  shall 
be  clothed  in  white  raiment."  The  expression 
"He  that  overcometh"  occurs  several  times  in 
the  New  Testament.  I  am  anxious  that  the 

31 


m*  Tuskegee  students  shall  get  the  idea  firmly 
fixed  in  their  minds  that  there  are  definite  re- 
wards coming  to  the  individual  or  to  the  race 
that  overcomes  obstacles  and  succeeds  in  spite 
of  seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties.  The 
palms  of  victory  are  not  for  the  race  that  merely 
complains  and  frets  and  rails.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  there  is  not  a  place  for  race  loyalty 
and  enthusiasm.  There  is  a  proper  and  vital 
place  for  protests  against  the  wrongs  that  are 
inflicted  without  cause  or  reason.  Every  race, 
like  every  individual,  should  be  swift  to  protest 
against  injustice  and  wrongs,  but  no  race  must 
be  content  with  mere  protests.  Every  race 
must  show  to  the  world  by  tangible,  visible,  in- 
disputable evidence  that  it  can  do  more  than 
merely  call  attention  to  the  wrongs  inflicted 
upon  it.  The  reward  of  life  is  for  those  who 
choose  the  good  where  evil  calls  out  on  every 
hand.  That  reward  is  moral  character.  The 
more  temptations  resisted— the  more  difficult 
the  struggle— the  more  robust  the  character. 
The  wholly  innocent  person  is  much  less 
praiseworthy  than  is  he  who  has  faced  tempta- 
tion and  has  come  out  of  it  unscarred.  The 
virtues  of  foresight  and  thrift  and  frugality, 
brought  bravely  to  the  front,  will  bring  large 
material  possessions  which  if  properly  used 
32 


will  refine  and  enrich  life. 
I  am  constrained  to  refer  once  more  to  that 
"peculiar  people,"  the  Jews,— a  race  that  has  into  ; 
been  handicapped  in  very  much  the  same  way 
as  the  colored  people.  Their  opportunities  have 
been  limited  in  many  directions.  In  Russia 
to-day  they  are  in  many  cases  debarred  from 
schools  and  from  entrance  into  the  professions. 
And,  notwithstanding  the  barriers  in  this  coun- 
try, one  of  the  most  noted  banking  firms  in  the 
United  States  is  composed  of  Jews.  Members 
of  a  despised  race,  they  made  up  their  minds 
that  in  spite  of  difficulties  they  would  not  stop 
to  complain,  but  would  compel  recognition  by 
making  a  real  contribution  to  the  country  of 
which  they  formed  a  part.  The  Japanese  race  is 
a  convincing  example  of  the  respect  which  the 
world  gives  to  a  race  that  can  put  brains  and 
commercial  activity  into  the  development  of  the 
resources  of  a  country.  What  material  difficul- 
ties the  thrifty  Hollanders  have  had  to  over- 
come in  the  development  of  their  country!  But 
the  battle  against  water  and  wind  has  developed 
not  only  a  country,  but  an  energetic,  thrifty 
people.  The  Netherlands  have  literally  been 
made  by  these  sturdy  Hollanders,  who  because 
they  overcame  are  looked  upon  as  a  great  and 
happy  people. 

33 


There  is,  then,  opportunity  for  the  colored  peo- 
tfjt  &)06t  pie  to  enrich  the  material  life  of  their  adopted 
into  Ctfe  country  by  doing  what  their  hands  find  to  do, 
minor  duties  though  they  be,  so  well  that  no- 
body else  of  any  race  can  do  them  better.  This 
is  the  aim  that  the  Tuskegee  student  should 
keep  steadily  before  him.  If  he  remembers  that 
all  service,  however  lowly,  is  true  service,  an 
important  step  will  have  been  taken  in  the  so- 
lution of  what  we  term  "the  race  problem." 
For  it  must  be  remembered  that  no  individ- 
ual of  any  race  can  contribute  to  the  solution  of 
any  general  problem  until  he  has  first  worked 
out  his  own  peculiar  problem.  Some  months 
ago  I  met  a  former  schoolmate  whom  I  had  not 
seen  for  a  number  of  years.  I  was  naturally  in- 
terested to  hear  about  his  progress,  and  began 
to  question  him.  I  asked  him  where  he  lived, 
and  he  said  he  had  no  abiding-place,  in  fact  he 
had  lived  in  a  half  dozen  places  since  we  parted. 
In  answer  to  other  questions,  I  found  that  he 
had  no  special  trade,  no  special  business,  no 
bank  account.  I  asked  then  what  he  had  been 
doing  in  the  intervening  years,  and  he  answered 
he  had  been  travelling  about  over  the  country, 
doing  his  best  to  solve  the  race  problem.  That 
man  should  rather  have  been  at  work  at  the 
solution  of  his  own  individual  problem.  An 
34 


individual  circumstanced  as  he  was  could 
not  solve  anybody's  problem.  It  is  important  to  tfje 
have  one's  own  dooryard  clean  before  calling 
attention  to  the  imperfection  in  the  neighbor's 
yard.  Each  Negro  can  put  much  into  the  life 
of  his  race  by  making  his  own  individual  life 
present  a  model  in  purity  and  patience,  in  in- 
dustry and  courage,  in  showing  the  world  how 
to  get  strength  out  of  difficulties.  The  late 
President  Garfield  once  said  that  no  person 
ever  drowned,  no  matter  how  many  times  he 
was  thrown  overboard,  who  was  worth  saving, 
and  that  remark,  with  a  few  modifications, 
might  be  applied  to  a  race.  No  race  is  ever  lost 
that  is  worth  saving,  and  no  race  need  be 
lost  that  wants  to  save  itself.  The  world  is  full 
of  little  people  who  through  lack  01"  wisdom 
and  patience  and  perseverance  merely  add  to 
the  world's  burdens.  The  despised  Negro  has 
the  chance  to  show  to  the  world  that  charity 
which  suffereth  long  and  is  kind  and  which 
never  faileth.  In  the  face  of  discouragements  and 
difficulties  the  Negro  must  ever  remember 
that  nobody  can  degrade  him.  Nobody  can  de- 
grade a  big  race  or  a  big  man.  No  one  can  de- 
grade a  single  member  of  any  race.  The  indi- 
vidual himself  is  the  only  one  who  can  inflict 
that  punishment.  Frederick  Douglass  was  on 

35 


one  occasion  compelled  to  ride  for  several  hours 
ttte  (J)o0t in  a  P°rtion  of  a  freight  car.  A  friend  went  into 
the  freight  car  to  console  him  and  said  to  him 
that  he  hated  to  see  a  man  of  his  intelligence  in 
so  humiliating  a  position.  "I  am  ashamed  that 
they  have  thus  degraded  you."  But  Douglass, 
straightening  himself  up  in  his  seat,  looked  the 
friend  in  the  face  and  said,  "They  cannot  de- 
grade Frederick  Douglass."  And  so  they  can- 
not degrade  a  single  individual  who  does  not 
want  to  be  degraded.  Injustice  cannot  work 
harm  upon  the  oppressed  without  injuring  the 
oppressor.  The  Negro  people  must  live  the 
precepts  taught  by  the  Christ.  They  must  go  on 
multiplying,  day  by  day,  deeds  of  worthiness, 
piling  them  up  mountain  high.  And  just  as  you 
and  I,  as  individuals,  are  called  upon  to  serve 
the  race  of  which  we  are  a  part,  so  let  us  as  a 
race  recognize  the  fact  that  we  are  a  part  of  a 
great  nation  which  we  are  bound  to  serve. 


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